Did everyone watch Boardwalk Empire last night? I loved the Magritte opening, Steve Buscemi wearing a bowler and looking out to the sea. But I can't say I loved the show. Yet. First episode, gotta get all those plotlines going, etc. In spite of Martin Scorsese's hand on the helm, I thought the whole thing was overproduced. Overdecorated. And slow in spots. I'm certainly going to watch again, but BE didn't grab me by the throat the way The Sopranos did.

The Defenders also debuted last night; did anybody watch? I didn't. When the high point of the show's promo is Jim Belushi belching, I sort of figure this isn't my kind of show. Remember the original Defenders? E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed.

Tonight, it's the new Hawaii Five-O on CBS. Slam-bam action instead of the rather pedestrian pace of the original, but I'm a wee bit leery. The show's promo, again, this time a scene showing three fully dressed men and Grace Park in a bikini. It's going to be THAT kind of show.

And one more...Chase on NBC. A new House as well. House's mother will appear on the show this season, played by Candice Bergen, of all people. Wasn't House's mother shown before, in the episode where Wilson had to drag House to his own father's funeral? I don't remember her, but I'm sure some woman was shown while House was delivering what was supposed to be a eulogy.

Well, Hawaii Five-O did turn out to be THAT kind of show. Grace Park's first assignment required her to undress. And what's all this about McGarrett looking for his father's killer and Danno wanting to be near his daughter? It's not enough just to be a cop anymore, you have to have a personal agenda to justify it?

The structure is similar, yes. Snippets from different character groups, brief flashbacks, more questions raised than answered, a whiff of the supernatural which is probably in fact some superhightech development. It worked before, so why not do it again? One of the snippets was a retread: half of a romantic couple goes missing on a cruise. I've seen that twice already this year, once in an LMN movie and I forget where I saw the other one.

This week I tried recording two shows at the same time and it worked! LOVE that DVR.

A new Survivor has shown two episodes without any comment here. Old vs. young, double-dealing right from the start, dirty tricks and lies, and a one-legged woman. The show had a deaf girl once, and once there was a one-legged racer on TAR. But isn't that kind of sadistic?

Quite sadistic. But remember, Jeff Probst is the one who wanted to do a show that granted dying people their last wish. That woman who filled some guy's shoes with sand and then sank them in the water -- that was stupid. But she was even more stupid when she confessed to doing it.

My main concern with Boardwalk Empire isn't the over-fancying it got for its first episode...that will disappear. What makes me wonder is whether Steve Buscemi can carry the show as its lead. He's a fantastic character actor, but the few leads he's played were in movies that went nowhere fast. (Let's see a show of hands here! How many of you rushed out to see Ed and His Dead Mother?) The last shot of the episode, showing Buscemi holding a bunch of flowers and standing in the doorway of the new widow's hospital room...he looked like a goofball.

BE has already been renewed for a second season, after the airing of that one episode. I'm not in love with the show, but I'll watch again.

Anyway, Dexter returns Sunday. And tonight is Jimmy Smits's new attempt at a series, Outlaw. This is supposed to be the premiere, but I stumbled onto an airing earlier this week. I saw only the last 15 or 20 minutes, but it didn't look very good to me.